Work at the St Andrew Goldfields Ltd owned Holt gold mine has come to a halt. The mine located east of Timmins in Ontario was damaged in part in an accident on Friday afternoon. No mine workers were injured in the accident.
Parts of the mine shaft structure were damaged as a truck was lowered underground. Repairs would take about 15 to 20 days to complete. A few of the employees have been put to work conducting the repairs. Although the company CEO is hoping that they can do it in less time than stipulated work continues.
President and CEO of St Andrew Goldfields, Jacques Perron said that it was a very unfortunate incident and nobody got hurt, which was the most important thing. He hopes to continue with the pre production program as soon as the repairs are completed.
Until then some of the employees from Holt mine will be working at the close by Holloway Mine. The production target of 80,000 ounces for 2010 may be hit due to the accident. Even as St Andrew Goldfields says that the incident has not significantly affected the mining operations at its Holloway and Hislop mines.